Endless spells are changing the way the Age of Sigmar is played. Check out the second part of how you can use them to gain an edge in your games!
Hello again, we’re going to cover the rest of the Malign Sorcery Spells here as well as the faction specific ones. To view the other Malign Sorcery spells that we covered in the last article click here!
More AoS Endless Spells & How to Use Them
Spell: Soulsnare Shackles: 20 points
What it Does: Casts on a 5, you set one up within 12” of the caster, then the second and third within 6” of the first one. At the start of the movement phase roll a D6 for any units within 6” of the shackles models. On a 3+ they halve their movement characteristic and on a 6+ also takes D3 mortal wounds. (If realm of death the second and third shackles are within 9” of the first)
Trav’s Take: This is an all-around great spell and there is no way it is going to stay at 20 points when they rebalance points in the next general’s handbook. First, you get three models that effect units within 6” of them making the threat range very large. Halving movement may not sound like much but any time you can disrupt your opponent’s plans makes them play for plan B rather than A. If you get a mortal wound from it, that is just icing on the cake.
Armies This is Useful For: All the armies especially armies that have lots of shooting.
Spell: Suffocating Gravetide: 30 points (Predatory Spell)
What it Does: Casts on a 6, set up wholly within 4” of caster, moves 8” (12” in realm of death) Any unit this model moves across suffers D3 mortal wounds and subtracts 1 from their bravery until the end of the battle round. Furthermore, any units that have all their models within 1” of this model gain the benefit of cover against shooting attacks if they are closer to the model then the target unit.
Trav’s Take: This is another huge base, but it kind of makes it unwieldy in terms of placing it and then moving it. However, if you cast it and move it over an enemy unit and follow that up with a charge from the caster so that they are within 1” of it at the end of the turn, you are doing mortal wounds and gaining cover from those pesky shooting attacks.
Armies This is Useful For: Armies that have melee centric mages so that it can do damage and grant cover. Stormcast Eternals, Daemons, etc.
Spell: The Burning Head: 40 points (Predatory Spell)
What it Does: Casts on a 7, set up wholly within 3” of the caster, moves 9”. Any units it passes across or ends its move within 1” of suffer D3 mortal wounds (D3+1 if realm of fire). All units wholly within 9” of this model can re-roll hit rolls of 1.
Trav’s Take: This is a great offensive spell to cast on a turn that you have a heavy hitting melee unit charging in. First, you inflict the D3 mortal wounds and if you can place it so after piling in your unit is wholly within 9” you are rerolling hit rolls. Sure the next battle round it might come back at you but the goal by then is the unit you are fighting is dead.
Armies This is Useful For: Melee centered armies.
Spell: Umbral Spellportal: 60 points
What it Does: Casts on a 5, you set up the first spell within 12” of the caster and the second within 18” of the first. (Anywhere on battlefield if realm of shadow) If a Wizard successfully casts a spell while within 1” of the spellportal you can measure the distance and visibility from either portal. You can only do this once per phase. Also if an endless spell ends within 6” of an Umbral Spellportal remove it and place it within 6” of the other Umbral Spellportal. This can only be done once per phase.
Trav’s Take: This spell used to be very powerful before it was limited to 1 spell per phase. Now at 60 points it seems like a bit over costed to extend the range of a single spell.
Armies This is Useful For: Used to be all magic heavy armies now not very useful.
Stormcast Spells
Spell: Celestian Vortex: 40 points (Predatory Spell)
What it Does: Casts on a 6, you set it up within 12” of the caster. Pick 1 enemy unit within 1” of this model and roll 12 dice, for each 6+ it deals a mortal wound. (5+ if playing against chaos). Also, subtract 1 from hit rolls for attacks made with missile weapons by units while they are within 6” of this model.
Trav’s Take: This is basically an upgraded version of quicksilver swords at double the price. I like Quicksilver swords at 20 points just because it’s a good filler but at 40 points there are better endless spells out there. Unless you are playing against a missile weapon heavy army in which case this spell is better, so it is very situational.
Armies This is Useful For: When you know you are playing against a ranged army.
Spell: Dais Arcanum: 40 points
What it Does: Casting value of 6 (wizards with wound 6 or greater cannot cast it) you set the casting wizard on top and their move becomes 12” (fly). On top of that they can attempt to unbind one extra spell and add 1 to their save rolls.
Trav’s Take: A very interesting spell in that it is basically made for a Knight Incantor and it gives them an extra dispel and adds 1 to their save rolls (3+ save). This makes that model very tanky, especially if the next turn you put mystic shield on them so that non rend wounds are only wounding this model on a 1’s and you’re re-rolling those.
Armies This is Useful For: Any Stormcast army that wants to use the Knight Incantor to hold objectives or tie up units.
Spell: Everblaze Comet: 100 points
What it Does: Cast on a 6, must be set up within 36”. After set up each unit within 10” of this model you roll a dice for. One a 1-2 they suffer 1 mortal wound, 3-4 they suffer D3 mortal wounds, 5-6 they suffer 3 mortal wounds. In addition, any Wizards within 5” suffer a -1 to casting rolls.
Trav’s Take: For a 100 points this seems a little lack luster. Sure, it is easy to cast and has a huge range but, 100 points for 3 mortal wounds max per unit is not great. With a range of 10” it is easy to get away from as well. While it could be useful for forcing units away from objectives or from sitting in cover in the back, at 100 points I think there is better options to take.
Armies This is Useful For: A Stormcast army that is going against armies that like to turtle.
Nighthaunt Spells
Spell: Mortalis Terminexus: 60 points (Predatory Spell)
What it Does: Casts on a 6, set up within 18”, has a move of 8”. The controlling player can choose to reverse time and heat D3 wounds to all models within 6” (12” if realm of death) or hasten time and deal D3 mortal wounds to each unit within 6” (12” if realm of death).
Trav’s Take: This is another neat spell in that it can heal or dish out mortal wounds, so it is a little more adaptable to the situation you need it. Compared to the emerald life swarm which is also 60 points and does the same thing healing wise, this is a solid spell if you want to add some healing.
Armies This is Useful For: Any Nighthaunt Army that wants to beef up their healing ability.
Spell: Shyish Reaper: 40 Points (Predatory Spell)
What it Does: Casts on a 7, 6” inches away and has a move of 8” (12 is battle is in Realm of Death) that is must go in a straight line after you pivot it. Each mode it moves over roll a dice for and it that value is equal to or greater than that models save value the unit suffers a mortal wound.
Trav’s Take: I really like this spell in that it is great against lines of heavily armored troops like Stormcast. It is situational though, in that against troops with less than ideal saves it won’t do much. Plus units with good saves tend to have high wound totals and smaller model counts so is 1 mortal wound really going to do much to them?
Armies This is Useful For: When you’re playing against an all Stormcast Paladin army.
Spell: Vault of Souls: 40 Points (Predatory Spell)
What it Does: Casting value of 6, set up within 18 of the caster, moves 8”. Roll a dice for each model within 6” (9” if playing in the realm of death) and on a 6+ that models unit takes a mortal wound. Keep track of the mortal wounds dealt by this model and if there is 20 or more at the end of any phase this model explodes and deals D6 mortal wounds to all models within 6”.
Trav’s Take: A neat model that is great against horde armies, you can just plop this in the middle of large groups and roll lots of dice. However, you need to roll lots of dice otherwise this will never explode and dish out a large amount of pain. If I was going to run this I would want to cast it turn 1 and it would need to get 4-5 mortal wounds a turn to explode by turn 5 (assuming it is not dispelled).
Armies This is Useful For: Any time you play against horde armies.
There you have it. Of all the endless spells to date, I still think your best bet is going the Malign Sorcery route and using those over the faction specific ones. The more options and frankly better point values for a lot of those spells over the faction ones that do relatively the same thing makes them more usable in most matched play games.
Let us know what spells you’ll be using to rock your opponent’s world.
